HCMC_P_049062 - Hennepin County Medical Center

News Notes
“The simulation center’s resources enable us to
rehearse situations that we rarely see, and improve
targeted procedures. As we acquire new technologies,
we can test them in simulation before we roll them
out to the institution broadly. This process enables us
to achieve quality improvement in a very controlled,
organized setting. Additionally, we can improve
patient satisfaction scores by working with a patient
in the simulation center to do patient and family
counseling and discussion. It’s a powerful tool to
coordinate better care.”
The Center’s director is Danielle Hart, MD. She is an
Associate Program Director in HCMC’s Department
of Emergency Medicine and an Assistant Professor
at the University of Minnesota Medical School. Dr.
Hart designed and integrated the simulation program
into the Emergency Medicine Residency Program.
“Simulation will revolutionize medical education at
HCMC. Hands-on learning, such as this, has been
proven to improve both learning and retention in
healthcare providers and trainees, and allows them
not only to practice medical decision-making, but
also teamwork, communication, professionalism and
other skills integral to delivering the best patient care
and safety.”
the chest and abdomen, specifically bladder, small
bowel, kidney, ureter, duodenum, diaphragm, spleen,
pancreas, stomach, cardiac, liver laceration and IVC
injuries. ATOM is a full-day course preceded by selfstudy
and self-efficacy testing that includes didactic,
surgical operative laboratory and post test components.
It is directed at surgical residents in light of reduced
duty hours and practicing trauma surgeons.
HCMC has chosen to become one of the approved
sites as a demonstration of its commitment to trauma
education and collaboration with outside practitioners
to provide better operative outcomes.
Participants will include
• Trauma Fellows and Senior Surgical Residents in
their fourth or fifth year of training external to
HCMC as well HCMC fourth year surgical trainees;
• Practicing surgeons taking call in non-trauma
centers and who are expected to manage
penetrating injuries;
• Practicing surgeons in trauma centers who do
not see a significant number of penetrating
trauma cases and who want to maintain or
improve their trauma operative skills; and
• Military surgeons.
Participating physicians will:
• Find their psychomotor skills for managing
trauma improved
• Be better prepared to identify penetrating trauma
• Be better prepared to develop a treatment plan
• Be better prepared to repair penetrating injuries
ATOM
Advanced Trauma Surgery Course to Be Held
at HCMC
For surgical residents, now held to an 80-hour work
week, ATOM assures them operative trauma
experience, as well as a response to the new
regulatory requirement for simulated skills training of
surgical residents. To the practicing surgeon, ATOM
provides the opportunity to practice solutions to
penetrating trauma. It would be HCMC’s important
contribution that surgeons in both the public and
private sectors be competent and confident in
management of penetrating injuries.
For more information or to register contact
www.hcmc.org/atom
Hennepin County Medical Center is one of only a few
national sites offering the American College of
Surgeons (ACS) Advanced Trauma Operative
(ATOM) course, none other presently in Minnesota.
The purpose of the course is to increase self-efficacy
and surgical competence in the repair of injuries to
Approaches in Critical Care | January 2013 | 19